A Shady Point who was injured last Thursday at a popular area water park said over the weekend that he is expecting a call from someone in the corporate office of the park’s management firm on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week.
George Johnson, who suffered a gash on the heel of one foot that required several stitches while at a private party at Parrot Island Water Park last Thursday, said the customer service he received the day of and the day after the accident is what made him post his story on social media.
The response to his Facebook post, with graphic pictures of his injuries, is what Johnson think promoted the call from American Resort Management last week.
“One of their regional vice-president called and left a message but I’ve had a lot on my plate and haven’t returned it yet,” said Johnson. “They are supposed to call me back.”
Johnson, his wife and their children were at a private after hours company party at the city/county owned water park on Thursday when Johnson decided to experienced the Pineapple Plunge body slide. After coming down the slide and skimming across the “landing pool” he struck his foot on a hex bolt head coming out of a circulation grate.
The resulting injury seen in the photo with this article was the outcome.
“I want to make one thing perfectly clear,” said Johnson. “I’m not the guy who spillshot coffee on his own lap and ties to sue McDonald’s for millions. But there is a right way and a wrong way to treat people.”
Johnson said the immediate attention he got from “the kids-the mostly teenage staff that serves as lifeguards and other capacities at the park was “outstanding.”
“They helped me, got me a Bandaid and tried to be as helpful as they could,” said Johnson. “I was very disappointed in the way th management handled the situation.”
Johnson said the “manager lady” immediately started questioning those that had seen the incident, trying to find out of he had been “playing around on the slide,” if he had been sliding properly on his back with his arms crossed, etc.
“We sat around for a long time waiting for them to find some insurance papers,” said Johnson, who is unemployed. “The lady told us to go get the medical treatment and return on Friday with the bills.The general manager was there on Friday and he said there was nothing they could do about it.”
“At that time, since the kids night had been spoiled on Thursday not long after he got there, I asked him if I could get some comp day passes for kids,” said Johnson. “He said that since it had been a private party that didn’t cost us anything that he wasn’t going to do that.”
“I figured at that point the best deal would be to consult an attorney,” said Johnson. “I didn’t have to go looking … they came looking for me after they saw my Facebook post.”
Johnson has hired an attorney and says he’ll let his attorney handle the situation.
Several people commented on Johnson’s post that they had experienced similar situations at the park and were communicating to try to put together a possible class action lawsuit.
“I just want my medical bills paid, and I don’t want this happening to anyone else,” said Johnson.
